£750k awarded to King's Lynn
It's coming from the Government
Last updated 28th Sep 2020
King’s Lynn will benefit from £750,000 of accelerated Towns Funds for a School of Nursing at the College of West Anglia, and investment to improve the town centre under £80 million of funding announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
The proposals for accelerated funding were submitted by the Towns Fund Board for a School of Nursing at the College of West Anglia in King’s Lynn. The School of Nursing has been developed by the College of West Anglia and the QEH with support of the Borough Council and other local partners. It can play an important part in addressing nursing workforce issues and will allow QEH to recruit more staff locally.
The Board also submitted proposals for a project to improve the town centre in Lynn including potentially providing opportunity for markets, pop up initiatives, outdoor seating areas and other schemes.
Commenting on this announcement, James Wild MP said:
"This is great news that will kickstart training opportunities for people in West Norfolk and allow QEH to recruitment more staff locally. I was delighted to make the case for a School of Nursing to the Prime Minister and securing this investment is part of the government’s levelling up agenda.
"The success of this proposal reflects the strong collaborative working between the College of West Anglia, QEH, the borough council and other local partners on the Towns Fund Board.
"By investing in the town centre this funding will support projects to encourage more people to support local businesses and create new opportunities."
Only locations identified for Town Deals have been offered access to this additional grant to fund capital projects that can be delivered by 31 March 2021. £750,000 has been allocated to King's Lynn, in additional to the original £25m Town Deal fund already allocated. £597,000 for the School of Nursing, and a separate bid for the remaining £153,000 to go towards public realm improvements.
David Pomfret, Principal/Chief Executive of the College of West Anglia, said:
"The School of Nursing creates a fantastic opportunity for west Norfolk. The Coronavirus has caused a massive global recession, however, health and social care is one of the very few sectors which is set to grow.
"This project, a partnership between the College of West Anglia, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, will create local career and skills development opportunities. Nursing is an incredibly important and rewarding career. This project will mean that the very best of talent can stay local, improve the stability and quality of the QEH workforce and support the west Norfolk economy as well as the wellbeing of west Norfolk communities."
The project will include the provision of two high-quality teaching spaces, refurbished into a hospital ward with two beds and equipment, to give students with near real-world experience of a clinical setting, and a simulator suite with two beds and clinical simulator dummies to present students with challenging situations. Scenarios from the simulator suite will be broadcast into larger class rooms so that a larger body of students can learn from the experience.
Dr April Brown, Chief Nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, said:
"We are absolutely delighted that funding has been secured for the West Norfolk School of Nursing.
"Once in place, this course will open up career opportunities for local people who perhaps never thought that there would be a chance to study nursing in West Norfolk, closer to home.
"The capital part of this project will be completed within the funding timescales, with the accreditation work taking place in order for the School of Nursing to receive their first cohort of students in September 2021."
Graham Purkins, Chair of the Town Deal Board, added: